Or we don’t understand why our dog who does great in practice is distracted or won’t listen at competitions.

You can you relate, right?

I’ve certainly had all of these experiences at one time or another with my dogs over the years. It’s made me a better person, that’s for sure.

More than once, I have said to myself as I look up into the sky in a moment of impatience, “do I Really need to work on growing my character Again? Really?”

Ah, yes, such is life.

Well, if you are anything like me, (and I know you are) you’d like to minimize those big challenges that force us into a new and better version of ourselves…and instead, plan for the growth, so the ‘new and more brilliant us’ blossoms in a less painful way.

At the heart of it is … the process of acquiring profound understanding and knowledge about our dogs, about ourselves and how we interact and respond to one another.

I just read it again, and I still love it…the significance of it. I love the ‘profound understanding’ part. It’s part of the foundation that is so important for building a trusting partnership with our dogs. Seeking this deep understanding has influenced how I train and compete with my dogs over the years.

I’m thinking of Luc as one good example.

When I started his sheepdog (herding) training, he presented me with a challenge that I had not come across. He was clearly talented, and we had a solid foundation, a budding partnership. At a year old, I enjoyed working and training with my little man.

He was willing to take my direction, to listen, to please me. The challenge came with finding balance when he got closer to two.

When his instinct (which had perfect pitch) argued with my instruction, he believed he had to choose. He had to disregard his instinct and do what I said. Or, he had to disregard what I said and follow his instinct.

Wow, that was quite a difficult place for such a young dog to be in, right?

So, my challenge was to figure out a way to keep the communication flowing between us. I had to figure out how to allow my instructions to be taken as ‘clear guidelines’ but not as ‘must do commands’. I had to develop our partnership and communication, without taking away his initiative to follow his good instincts.

It was hit and miss for a while as we worked it out. Sometimes we nailed it. Other times, he was looking at me instead of the sheep … sometimes he was ignoring me, focusing only on the sheep.

Sometimes I was filled with joy with our progress. Sometimes I was frustrated at our imbalanced partnership.

The thing that got us through this new and challenging period was our foundation. Our trust for one another. Our partnership. It just kept growing, getting better and better.

Ultimately, our partnership became brilliant! One exciting example of that: We were Finalists at the USBCHA Nationals. Luc and I worked our way to the championship final round, the famous double lift. It was quite an experience and I am both humbled and proud of our accomplishment as partners.

Take my little story about Luc, and imagine yourself and your dog in our place, in any context at all. The same struggle story applies to life skills, agility, rally, anything that you do with your dog:

Just imagine this struggle between your dog’s natural instincts and desire to please you and do what’s right.

Now imagine the successful outcome you dream of…

Here’s what I imagine you want to ask me:

Q: OK, I want that too! How can I get this kind of partnership with my dog?

A: Through the 5 step foundation formula that I have been teaching. Step-by-step. You’ve heard me talk about baby steps a lot. It’s the only way to go.

Partnership is really all about ever-increasing levels of good communication. Getting deeper into understanding. Deeper into what I call the ‘dialog loop’…an active exchange of thoughts, feelings, words, expressions, actions between me and my dog that informs my next move, my next choice of how to go on with the lesson my dog and I are learning together.

This is the “Partnership” that I tell you about. An interactive, collaborative relationship with our dogs that transforms struggles into joyful possibilities.

Follow these 5 Steps to work your way toward partnership with your dog:

Start with an intention to actively communicate with your dog. To dialog. To truly listen with all of your senses, all of your being, to what your dog is telling you.

Strive for clarity as you interact with your dog. Get really clear about what you want, and about how your dog needs you to teach this skill.

Be a loving leader in the dance of your life together. The dance requires you and your dog to be competent at being attentive and responsive to one another.

Foster a deeper, heart-to-heart holistic connection with your dog. This means that you become as balanced mentally, emotionally and physically as your dog.

Develop a foundation of collaboration with your dog that becomes your cornerstone for easily transforming any struggle that crops up into brilliant possibility for success.

Click the Banner to Download Your Free Book and get on my VIP Subscriber list for the latest tips and insights:

Experience Success in all you do … sports, performance and every day life.

We want to do our best to make sure that our dog is well socialized and can cope with all the interesting (and sometimes scary) things that are encountered in life.

Things are going great…until, one day, your puppy encounters what must be a dog-eating monster. uh-oh.

Then you do what every dog-loving person would do:

you break out your clicker and your treats and get to work! You make a commitment to ‘expose’ your dog to that scary monster as often as you can, and vow to put all of your focus on making sure your dog is convinced that that monster is just ordinary, and not scary at all.

Have you ever heard of Universal Laws? You know, things like Gravity…and that Albert Einstein equation about Relativity. These Laws are things that make our planet work. (well, the entire universe, actually)

Well, there’s a Universal Law called The Law of Resonance (commonly referred to as the Law of Attraction). You may have heard of it.

Or you may have heard this in high school science class: “Like Attracts Like”. Or perhaps you can think of “Resonance”.

Natural Laws go way deeper than ‘science based dog training’. Or any other kind of dog training. This is the stuff that makes the world go round, quite literally. Without human intervention of any kind. (I know, right?)

We can apply these natural laws to raising and socializing our dogs…think of it like this:

What you put the most attention, energy and focus on is the very thing that you ‘attract’ more of into your life.

Now, what exactly DO YOU want to attract more of?

Finding the answer to that question is one of the core concepts that I teach in my programs. I call this little process of discovery “The Clarity Questions”.

OK, so back to your dog’s scary monster.

Do you want to attract MORE of the scary monster by focusing on it?

Do you want to join up with your dog, and be ever so vigilantly on the lookout for a scary monster that may show up around any corner? hmmmm.

Maybe: you’d rather focus on your heart-to-heart connection with your dog…and how much you love spending this precious time together.

Perhaps you’d rather attract more trust between you and your dog?

That’s what I want!!

Here’s a little story about what that looks like in real life.

Raven and The Water Monster

We recently went to South Dakota to Joe’s family farm, which is in the Glacial Lakes region, and the farm sits right on beautiful and large Waubay Lake.

My border collies love to swim or play in water, so I was looking forward to spending lots of time on the beach with the dogs.

My younger dogs had never been to the farm so the Lake was a new experience.

The first day we were able to enjoy the lake it was windy, and the lake was rough, with lots of fast waves breaking on the beach.

Raven had never seen waves.

She LOVES water, and loves to swim…but she sort of freaked when she ran to the beach for the first time and something large came swiftly out of the water and ‘attacked’ her.

She tucked her tail and ran away from the lake in a hurry when she encountered the first wave. She was truly afraid and did a sort of growl/bark as she ran quickly away from the ‘water monster’.

Here’s what I did when she reacted to the waves:

1. Observed her response and quickly became clear on what I wanted to attract/focus on: more trust between me and my dog. (notice that I did not choose to focus on anything about the waves, the water, classical or operant conditioning, desensitization, counter conditioning, training, etc)
2. Kept walking and engaging with the dogs.
3. Gave ZERO attention to her fear.
4. Role modeled what to do, which was to just be calm and relaxed.
5. Since I did NOT try to ‘train’ or ‘condition’ her to accept the waves, I used Loving Leadership to keep her trust in me intact.
6. I used the 95% Rule: never asking or encouraging her to engage with the lake or the waves in any way.
7, I stayed in the Dialog Loop, allowing her to express her feelings and not judge those feelings.
8. I picked up a stick to play water fetch with the dogs (which Raven LOVES)…and began our turn taking…business as usual.
9. I tossed the stick at the edge of the lake for Sue, and for Phoenix who both retrieved to me.
10. I then tossed it for Raven, just out of the water’s edge. No problem.
11. We were all role modeling for her.
12. After a couple of minutes, she started exploring the waves on her own. I simply observed. Said or did nothing. Zero pressure or reinforcement.
13. Within minutes she was jumping into the waves in delight!!
14. The end.

This video clip shows her response to the waves after about 3 minutes after her first encounter with the ‘water monster’.

The concepts (from my Foundation Formula program) that I want to highlight are:

Role Modeling

Loving Leadership

95% Rule

Patience

Heart Connection

Clarity

Focus

ok…lol…maybe it’s just the entire FF!

What are your insights from this story? How will you apply that insight to your life with dogs?Click the Banner to Download Your Free Book and get on my VIP Subscriber list for the latest tips and insights:

Experience Success in all you do … sports, performance and every day life.

Kathy with her horse Lacee, and her dog Max, enjoying a snowy winter day in 1986.

My First Dog: Max

When I was a young woman, the first dog that I had the honor to share life with ‘on my own’ was Max, a black standard poodle. What an amazing dog he was. After he died at 11 years old, it took 2 full years before I could speak about him without breaking into heart-wrenching sobs. Just writing this chokes me up, more than 20 years later. (read a bit of Max’s story here)

As is always the case, when one door closes, another opens.

It was losing Max that started me on the holistic path.

I quickly devoured all the information I could find about natural and holistic living for dogs and for people. I changed my own health dramatically, simply by changing the way I ate…which cleared me of daily and intense headaches cause by allergies of all kinds.

I changed the way I cared for my dogs. The way I fed them, vaccinated them, the vet I used…nearly everything.

This holistic mindset, a way of living, led to a complete overhaul of the way I trained my dogs, the way I communicate with them, the way I joyfully live with them.

Much has evolved for me in the past 35 years, as I continue to learn and make new discoveries…but the core philosophy stays the same:

The body, mind, emotions and spirit are all interwoven and cannot be separate and we need to balance ALL parts of ourselves and our dogs.

Wow…has it been an amazing journey of learning. Years of holistic study, courses, certifications, workshops, seminars and personal experience has brought such a richness to my life. Not only has my own life been enriched, but my family, clients and students as well.

I love teaching classes and workshops and one of my favorites was my two-year study program in holistic animal modalities. Such fun!

Dogs have emotional struggles too.

One of the more challenging things that I have helped people with over the years is when their dogs have fear, anxiety and stress…causing their quality of life to be diminished.

None of us wants to see someone we care about unhappy, distressed and fearful. Especially if it’s our dogs.

I’ve found that there are a few simple holistic tools that anyone can use to help their dog become more balanced and happy, along side the other work we are doing.

I always view transformation as a holistic process and I utilize my full system for the best results…but here’s a Sampling of what you can learn in my Brilliant Partners Academy program:

How understanding the Mind-Body Connection and physical, mental and emotional balance can be a real life changer for you and your dog.

The importance of your dogs physical condition and conditioning and how that influences your training, work, play performance and competitions.

How to use Hands-On Help anytime your dog is hyper, anxious, reactive or fearful so that you can help to restore calm, attentive and responsive behavior to your dog.

The best way to use TTouch and Body Pressure to calm your worried, stressed, hyper or nervous dog.

Learn about one of my favorite holistic tools: Flower Essences, and how you can easily use these plant helpers to remedy anxiety, fears, learning difficulties and so much more.

Discover how your movement, posture, facial, verbal and emotional expressions, breathing and personal space are very effective communication tools to teach your dog almost any skill and support any training or behavior struggle.

Three of my favorite essential oils that I use to help change fearful, anxious and stressed dogs…into happy dogs.

Stressed, Anxious or Fearful Dog?

One of my favorites is a therapeutic essential oil blend called Peace and Calming. This is a gentle, fragrant blend that helps calm tension, promote relaxation and a sense of peace. A few drops rubbed behind the ears or along the back can really help a stressed or fearful dog rebalance emotionally, making it easier to learn and transform perspectives.

I would start with a couple of drops of the oil in the palm of your hand and pet your dog along the back. Once per day, or any time your dog is likely to get stressed or anxious. This is a great blend if you get nervous at trials too! Click here to order.

More Help for Anxious Dogs who Lack Confidence or are Unable to Cope:

Valor is another therapeutic blend that I often use. Valor helps to enhance feelings of strength, courage and self-esteem in the face of adversity. I have found this is often helpful with fearful or anxious dogs, helping them to cope and feel good about themselves. I sometimes use a rotation of both of these oils for maximum transformation.

My favorite combination whenever there is anxiety, fear, lack of confidence is Peace and Calming along with Valor. P&C helps bring calm, and releases the energy of anxiety. The Valor helps with personal confidence and flexibility in handling life and life’s circumstances. It’s also balancing.

Start with the Valor, rub a drop or two in the palm of your hands and then stroke behind your dogs ears and down the back.

Then, repeat that with the P&C.

Do this once per day for two to three weeks. It would also be ok to do this twice per day, for the first week. In addition, I would use the P&C immediately before any ‘event’ that might cause your dogs to be anxious/agitated.

After the 2-3 weeks of Valor/P&C every day and P&C when needed…I would drop the Valor, and begin to use the P&C every day, twice per day for 2-3 weeks.

Then reassess…possibly just use the P&C as needed for a while. Or, I might start the rotation all over again, with the daily Valor.

Your Dogs Not Getting Along?

I especially love using a blend called JOY … both for the exquisite scent, and for the promotion of emotional balance. This blend is calming and balancing, which is exactly what some dogs most need! Joy is also useful in multi-dog households where there is some friction. All dogs, and the humans wear it in this situation!

I would start with a couple of drops of the oil in the palm of your hand and pet all of your dogs along their back. Once per day, and any time you notice stress building.

One *very important* element when there is building tension between dogs is to be a proactive and loving leader by not allowing any snarking to start in the first place. Be sure to interrupt and redirect any eyeballing or posturing instantly, before it escalates into anything further. You may need to separate the dogs and manage them so they are not together for a while. You are working on establishing a new pattern of behavior, and that can take a while.

Events, such as a home coming, are common circumstances for snarking/fighting amongst dogs. Any time there is a high level of excitement, like a visitor arriving, or dinner being prepared, treats being dispensed etc are times when mild tension can quickly escalate into snarking, growling, or worse. It’s up to you to keep your dogs safe by being proactive.

Penny-Wise and Dollar Foolish: Use the Right Grade of Oils

A cautionary tale I’d like to share is to beware the quality of oils. Most oils are not pure and are likely to carry toxins with them right into the body. I only use therapeutic grade oils for myself and for my dogs. They are a bit more expensive, and our health is worth it!

The bottles last a very LONG time. There is a reducer cap, so you can control how much oil comes out.

Dee and Phalen: Dreams kept alive by love.

(This is a guest post by Dee Wilusz)

My name is Dee Wilusz and I am the very proud mom of 6 White Shepherds and or White shepherd mixes. They all came to me through rescue except for my youngest. Phalen is my first dog from a breeder. My husband I live in a fairly rural part of Indiana with sheep and cats to round out our family. I drive a school bus by day and train dogs by night and weekend. Any activity with my dogs is the best that it can be for me. Therapy work, agility, obedience, conformation, herding, swimming, walking or to be honest just breathing the same air as them thrills me beyond words.

I remember the day that I brought Phalen home, this tiny bundle of fur that was here “just on a trial basis”. It was love at first sight and if I close my eyes I can remember the exact feeling and moment that Jean, his breeder put him in my arms. I was determined that Phalen was going to be the dog of my dreams. A fresh slate that I could mold and make into everything I had always wanted. The universe had slightly different plans for us and a journey that I never expected.

I saw the first reactivity at 6 months.

I was proactive, worked with his breeder, took classes, and worked on confidence building. I was positive that I could change the course of the reactivity and “save him”. My passion had always been shy dogs; I am great at helping shy dogs and had specialized in it for our rescue and with my own dogs for years with wild success. Reactivity was foreign to me and frightened me. We continued on this course until the fateful day that Phalen attacked another dog in my home. I was crushed. I separated him from the boys and began living in a divided house. We sought the help of experts and people (solicited or not) were more than willing to tell me how to “fix” him and how it was all my fault. Thankfully, I kept searching.

I considered returning Phalen to his breeder, but I just couldn’t do it.

He was a part of me and even living in a divided house couldn’t separate us. I found Kathy through Phalen’s breeder after a dreadful herding experience. She thought that Kathy’s gentle methods would speak to me and of course she was exactly right. The 5C’s were like water in the desert. Finally, a plan! Not only a plan, but one that recognized the relationship with my dog and honored that relationship. This I could understand and commit to.

A new journey began, and our relationship blossomed.

Phalen and I began working with Kathy and things were slow at first, but Kathy is clear about that. She says it takes time but it’s worth it, there are no quick fixes. Phalen and I buckled down and began really working on our relationship. Each taking equal responsibility for our parts, I had never asked him to take his share, I tried to carry it for both of us. I still struggle with this sometimes, but Phalen is good at reminding me that this is what he wants as well.

I am clearer about what I want and need. Phalen can now trust that I will be clear in my communication and that I will no longer leave him wondering what I want or expect that he will read my mind. I practice skills before I ask Phalen to do them. I use people as my dogs who can give me great feed back about what I am doing and how it affects them. Then when I get with Phalen, I am competent, confident and clear. He and I both deserve that.

Loving Phalen just the way he is has been a major shift for us and while it may seem small it is gigantic and changes everything for us.

We still live in a divided house and we may live that way until the boys are no longer with us. I am OK with that, for the first time ever I have accepted that. If it changes, that would be great, but it is no longer my driving force. My language has always been about changing Phalen. “Phalen is perfect, except for the reactivity. I wouldn’t change anything about Phalen except for his reactivity. If only he weren’t reactive we could do anything.” It has been through my work with Kathy that today I can say; “I love Phalen exactly as he is today and think he is perfect “. That has been a major shift for us and while it may seem small it is gigantic and changes everything for us.

Phalen I showed conformation this weekend. We have had a very successful show career, and we have always been grateful for the wins. This weekend was very different though. We were truly a team this weekend. Fluid, beautiful, connected in a way that we have never been before.

My husband kept saying: “I have never seen you guys show like this before.”

For Phalen and I this weekend it was about us, being a team, enjoying the moment and celebrating our relationship. They don’t give out ribbons for that, but that is what each of those ribbons said to me this weekend. The joy of stepping in the ring with an invisible lead, the look on Phalen’s face as he took his cues from me, and the moment when another dog came charging at Phalen and he looked at me and ignored the dog, that’s what our journey is about.

It turns out that Phalen really is the dog of my dreams.

It wasn’t until my journey with Phalen that I had clarity to define them and a determination to see them fulfilled. I’m not sure what our future goals are, for now I am working on enjoying living in this moment and appreciating every aspect of this particular moment in life. As Phalen and I continue on our journey, I know that a clear path will emerge, the one of least resistance and the one that is perfect, made just for us.

Archive

Get education, motivation and inspiration…

… in YOUR inbox.

Praise

“Ivy is so much better around other dogs, we have even been able to visit the dog park several times! We get many comments
from people wondering if she is the same dog! Thank you for our lessons, what a difference it has made!”

-Elisa and Ivy

“I’ve been working with Heidi on her name and attention and she is already so much better! She’s even come running in the house
from outside when I call her!!! Yay!! Our walks have been much better too and she’s looking up at me a lot more.

-Catherine and Heidi

“I absolutely loved your TTouch presentation tonight. I learned so much! I have practiced on my foster dog who has bad allergies
on her feet so she doesn’t like her feet touched. She began to close her eyes. It was so cool.”

-Maureen

“Kathy, You’re amazing! You are a wealth of knowledge, and your approach to training is inspiring. I wish I could devise some small
space craft that could enter your mind (and heart), and spend time exploring. I could learn sooooooo much.”

-Judy and Rina

THANK YOU!! I am just overjoyed at “nding your herding course!! Your philosophy and methods feel so right and make sense to
me and to my dogs!. Thank you for putting your methods out there in such an excellent format.”

-Krissi Goetz

“Kathy
Well, all Carla and I can say is WOW!!!!
What a great weekend we had out at your farm. Thank you for the excellent instruction and information. Not only were our dogs
enriched, but our lives were enriched also.”

-Marc and Carla

“I like the way you have everything broken down and you explained the concepts so it was very easy to understand. I can’t thank
you enough for giving us the opportunity to get a glimpse and feel of something wonderful.”